30th November, 1990
Climbing began, up through villages of thatched, red-brick cottages where corn cobs hung from the rafters to dry. Every square inch was cultivated with millet and corn, the terraces climbing on all sides like eternal staircases to heaven. Nepali women wrapped in voluminous robes wore chunky gold earrings and nose-rings. They ignored us clambering clumsily through their villages.
If we called out namaste, they would smile sweetly and return the greeting. Little girls with wild, unkempt hair would make the namaste gesture as we passed, hands joined, as if in prayer, by the chest. “One photo!” they would call, and scamper away. None asked for money.
Compared to the ragged, barefoot porters on Kilimanjaro, the Nepalis were well-dressed in jeans, gym shoes or flip-flops. Crew-cut Bhima, despite being exceedingly skinny, carried the largest load. Another Krishna, a Tibetan and a mimic of animal noises, constantly crinkled his face in laughter.
From Freedom of the Skies
Glimpses of the journey:
- Around the world
- Crossing the Atlantic
- Saint Louis, Senegal
- Bubaque, Guiné-Bissau
- Timbuktu, Mali
- Cottars’ Camp, Kenya
- Virungas National Park, Zaire
- Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe
- Sossusvlei, Namíbia
- Lumbo, Mozambique
- Antananarivo Madagascar
- Adis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Misfat, Omã
- Jaipur, India
- Himalaia, Nepal
- Mae Hong Son, Thailand
- Bario, Sarawak, Malaysia
- Borobodur, Java, Indonesia
- Baliem Valley, Irian Jaya
- Gimbat, Australia
- Munda, New Georgia, Solomon Islands
- Hurricane in Apia, Western Samoa
- Anaa, Tuamotu, Polynesia
- Easter Island, Chile
- Crossing the Andes, Chile-Argentina
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
